US Debt

If you ever want to scare yourself, take a look at the US Debt Clock, it is not a fun sight. When you look at the debt you realize it is a big number going up quickly. Right now it is $14.3 trillion dollars, 70% of our GDP. To get out of debt every citizen would have to give up a years income and the government would then have a small surplus. Something that confuses me though is how Japan can have a debt that is almost 200% of their GDP. Wow we really need a president and government, and the whole American people who can step up and realize that the US debt is a real issue, and is way bigger than a couple people getting votes, it is time to not be selfish, maybe some more taxes, but most importantly we need the government to shrink and worry about itself and not trying to take care of every little thing. This is one reason why I believe the tea party is important, and why I like them, even though I may not agree with all of their ideas, the American people need to realize that all of the programs they want cannot be funded, but this needs to happen across the board.

http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Mitt Romeny

Now finally here is a real candidate, and one that has a good chance of getting the nomination, if not the presidency. After doing some research on Mitt Romney I feel that he can turn this country around, something 70% of Americans want. After turning around the company he worked for, created a company that  would turn others around, saving the Salt Lake City Olympics, and turning around Massachusetts, trying to turn the US around would be his biggest challenge, but one I think he will tackle head on. As Governor of Massachusetts he showed he can make both parties work with each other and get things done. Just like any candidate he has a couple of things against him. One he is LDS, but I do not think this is such a big problem this time around because this has not seemed to hurt him in the polls, but it is too early to tell. Also as Governor of Massachusetts he signed a healthcare bill similar to the one President Obama put into place, but so far he has defended himself well by using the 10th amendment to defend it. Other advantages he has is with his ability to fund raise he should be able to raise more than the other Republicans, and should stay even with Obama. I also think that he is close enough to the Tea Party that he should be able to use them to create enthusiasm, but because he is not closely tied it should not hurt him in the general election. Overall I feel Romney has the ability to gain the GOP nomination, and go toe-to-toe with Obama, and hopefully win.

Sarah Palin

So I decided to do a post on all of the possible GOP contenders that I have some knowledge on, so today I will write about Sarah Palin. During the midterm elections she became the face of the tea party movement, but in recent polls her numbers are unimpressive. She does have an advantage in name recognition, but it has not translated to possible votes in the polls yet. I do like that she seems like a nice normal person, but I do not think she has the experience to lead the country. I also think that her strong ties to the tea party will hurt her in the general election if she made it, as much as I like the tea party movement I do not think that it will be able to elect somebody close to it now because it is too far to the right for independents and centrist democrats. I personally think that Sarah Palin will not run for President, I think that her time in the spotlight has passed, but if she does run I think she does not have the right personality or credentials to make it far.

Donald Trump

Wow it has been a long time since I wrote anything. There has been a lot in the news recently about Donald Trump and the possibility of him running for President. I thought that I would share my opinion on it. First off I think he has done a great job being recognized with his attacks on the President, it gets his name out early and is taking the fight to the President. On the whole issue of whether Obama was born in America I believe he was born in Hawaii, but the question does remain why he does not show his birth certificate. It could be a political ploy to expose it at an opportune time to discredit his opponent if it was brought up, and if that is the case I have to commend Obama for great foresight, but this is not the first time the issue was brought up and the reason to not show it did not really exist at the time. Trump cannot run his campaign on this issue though, and will need to focus on bigger issues, especially in the primaries. Trump can run on the economy which will be a big advantage to him because he is a businessman, but he will have to expand to other issues in the primaries, which will be to his disadvantage. I do wonder how successful somebody could be in the general election to attack Obama on many of the things he got a free pass from the media last year. McCain failed to press his advantage on issues like Obama being friends with Bill Ayers, a terrorist, or attending the church of an anti-American Reverend for over thirty years. I do not think that a campaign can be built off of these, but if pushed with the birth issue it might bring some success.